Participation Activities
Activities Links
Cultural Background: Our cultue impacts not only our attitudes and the way we approach life, it also affects the language
we use in our day-to-day lives. In this activity, you are to create a timeline of sorts of the region's cultural history.
Specifically, you should highlight regional and environmental influences as well as those of family. Use the Capzles Social
Storytelling site http://www.capzles.com/ as your platform for sharing. Please see the link on the right for a completed example.
Cultural Background Example

*You will complete this activity during class.
Analyzing Grammar: Grammar is a mainstay in most language arts classrooms. What many educators do not recognize is that the very nature of grammar, the study of it, is linguistics. Using this idea as a guiding principle, explore and complete the
lesson plan (to the right) from Read Write Think.

*See the link below for the top 40 pet peeves noted by Americans:
http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/grammar_mechanics/top-40-grammar-pet-peeves/
Analyzing Grammar Pet Peeves

*You will complete this activity during class.
Woe Is Us: Bad Grammar Permeates Language: Watch O'Neil's newscast (read the transcript) found at the link on the right.
After viewing it, leave a comment directly on the video's link. Note: You may leave a new comment or respond to a comment
made by someone else.
Woe Is Us

*You may complete this at any time.
Read the article located at the link on the right. After reading it, post a discussion response to this page
answering the following question: How should we, as teachers, address the Appalachian dialect in the classroom? Is it
possible to respect regional dialects, such as the Appalachian one, and still encourage or demand standard English?
Explain your stance.
Appalachians Are Finding Pride in Their Twang

*You may complete this at any time.
View the video located on the Vialogue (link on the right). After viewing it, respond to the questions and discussion prompt posed.
Vialogue: Linguistic Discrimination
*You will complete this during class.